"My beloved is 500m from you." Nasta Dashkevich told how a year ago she flew on wings to her husband in Lithuania

When Zmitser was released on September 11, 2025, I was still serving my home "chemistry" (community service/restricted freedom). I cried with the children when he was released, when we talked for the first time. And I kindly envied everyone who could hug him and take care of him. I could only look at him on Telegram, but without obstacles already, and hear his voice.

My last day of "chemistry" was October 13. And already on the afternoon of October 14, I was rushing towards the Lithuanian border. For my long-awaited gift for Mother's Day and all the other holidays we had missed.

Before that, things were not simple with the police either: we were worried that they might not let me leave, because I had to ask permission to travel abroad, and there was a lot more that I will write about someday later. But the main thing happened: on the first day of my freedom, I was able to leave not only beyond the Minsk Ring Road but also abroad.

I eagerly breathed in this scent of freedom as I drove along our Belarusian roads, savouring the smell of the forest, calmly drinking coffee at petrol stations without hiding my face with a cap. And at 7 PM, I congratulated myself that for the first time in 3 years I could be away from home, exactly where I wanted to be, and I wanted to be next to Zmitser Dashkevich.

About 6-7 hours of driving, and Zmitser met me on the other side of the border at the first petrol station. We set each other's live location in Telegram, and I watched with excitement as the number of kilometres, and then meters, between us decreased — "my beloved is 500m from you" hung on my screen.

Oh, how unbearable that Lithuanian border felt to me! And then even less, less, less. And then he was already running from that petrol station towards me. That was probably one of the happiest moments of my life.

Friends and relatives gave me a new honeymoon in Lithuania, as they looked after the children while I was away. And it was the most wonderful Mother's Day gift of my life.

Everything that happened between Zmitser's detention and our meeting. All the events, worries, reflections, endless support, love, wisdom, fears, despairs, and victories, we put into 2 books that we hope to publish. This is our manifesto against human forgetfulness of what people in Belarus are going through. This is the history of the most recent times.

You can support the book via the link. We really need your support!

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